Fruit-drier



(No Model.) G. FLEGKENSTEIN.

FRUIT DRIER.

Patented June 22, 1897.

Ewe/Mar M m through line 00 'y of Fig. 1.

llnrrnn TATES ATENT Enron.

CHARLES FLEOKENSTEIN, OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

FRUIT-DRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 584,818, dated June 22, 1897.

Application filed March 2, 1896.

T0 aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES FLECKEN- STEIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portland, in the county of Multnomah, State of Oregon, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Fruit-Driers, of

'which the following is a specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawmgs.

My invention relates to fruit-driers in which the trays are stacked on top of each other to cause heated air to ascend through the fruit placed upon each tray; and the objects of my improvement are to provide simple and inexpensive means to lift one end of the whole stack of trays except the bottom tray, and means to advance outwardly said bottom tray to permit the removal of the latter with speed and convenience. I attain these objects by the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in Which Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical central section of thelower portion of the fruit-dryin g I compartment, having trays therein and means to facilitate the removal of the lowest tray in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section, on a larger scale than Fig. 1, of the lower portion of the fruitdrying apparatus and trays, showing the improved hook and the lower tray removed.

This is an improvement upon the construction shown in the application for patent made by Adam Fleckenstein, February 24, 1896, Serial No. 580,585, mainly to dispense with one of the lifting hooks and levers, this drier being also intended to be provided with a tray-feeding door near the top and a discharge-door at one end near the bottom.

The walls of the fruit-drying compartment 0 are substantially air-tight and rest upon the walls of the hot-air chamber A. The compartment C is preferably made to hold about fifty trays of about the size of eighteen by forty-two inches. The interior of said compartment is about said size, so that the walls serve to guide the trays when descending or slightly ascending therein.

To facilitate the removal of the lowest tray T, a roller R, preferably as long as the width Serial No. 581,569. (No model.)

of the trays, is located in the back end and lower cornerof the compartment 0, its spindle being mounted in bearings secured to the Walls of said compartment at such height that the upper part of its periphery is on a level slightly higher than the upper edge of the tray T. The front portion of said tray T rests upon a small roller 0", having its bean ings mounted also in the Walls of the compartment O.

At the front end of the exterior of the compartment 0, near the bottom thereof, there is pivotally mounted a lever L in bearings placed upon a timber I), having its ends resting upon blocks mounted upon the walls of the hot-air chamber A, and a small door D under the timber b closes the lower portion of the front end of the compartment C. To the lever L is attached one end of a chain 72 having on the opposite end the rectangular upper link 71 of the hook h. The hook and its shank are thus made of two pieces hinged together so that the upper link, that cannot rotate, and a portion of the chain can be made to slide up and down in a recess cut in the inner face of the timber I), while the hook proper, 7b, can be made to swing on its hinge out and in engagement with the bottom of the tray if the attendant opens the small door D or uses, through a vertical slot, 2. hooked rod for engagement with the knob or handle 70 on the rear face of the hook 7t, the latter means being preferred, so as to let out as little hot air as possible from the compartment O.

v To remove the bottom tray T, the free end of the lever L is depressed, and thus the front end of the tray T Fig. 1, is slightly lifted, and with it the other trays T. The door D is then opened, and as the back end of the tray T rests upon the inclined surface of the roller R and the other trays are bearing upon said back end the tray T will obtain a forward impetus to push it partly over the small roller 1'. and through the open end door D far enough to be easily grasped and removed. The top surface of the roller R is only about one-sixteenth of an inch higher than the top of the tray, so that when the tray T has taken the place of the tray T, as in Fig. 3, with its front end abutting against the door D, the

hook h is then free to swing back and again made to engage in the opening 0 in the bot tom of the overlying tray. If it is desired to examine the contents of the lower tray while pulled half-way out, the height of the door should not be much more than the height of the tray, as shown by the dotted line ain Fig. 2, so that the wall of the casing will oppose the thrust caused by the roller R on the back end of the tray.

Having now fully described my invention, I claim- 1. In a fruit-drier the combination of the walls of the compartment 0 having a door in one of its narrow sides, a series of superposed trays fitted within said walls, a lever pivoted above said door, a chain and hook pendent from said lever, and a roller R in the rear end of the drier, the top surface of said roller being above the floor of the drier a distance slightly higher than the thickness of one of the trays substantially as described.

2. In a fruit-drier the combination of the walls of the compartment 0 havinga door in the bottom of its front end, a series of superposed trays fitted within said walls, a lever pivoted above the bottom door, a chain and long link pendent from said lever, a hook hinged to said link, a roller 0 on the front end of the drier-fioor, and a roller R in the rear end projecting above the floor substantially as described. i

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, this 21st day of February, 1896.

CHARLES FLECKENSTEIN.

Witnesses:

A. OHLHOFF, W. T. JAYOOBSEN. 

